We maintain (5) facilities for student, faculty, and staff use: (2) campus locations: Bert Bornblum Library and Jess Parrish Library and (3) Centers: Gill Library, Maxine Smith Library, and Whitehaven Center Library.
Our hours are flexible to meet our customers’ needs during the regular semester with traditional and virtual services. Our website averages 135,000+ visits annually, opening doors to numerous print and electronic items onsite and remotely.

Our staff consists of dedicated individuals possessing the customer service and technical skills necessary to assist customers on how to access and use our vast resources effectively. The librarians have advanced degrees from ALA-accredited institutions and work closely with faculty to solicit recommendations and suggestions to support their curriculum needs and maintain a balanced collection. Partnerships exist with area colleges with privileges to borrow or use resources on site. Some of our services include intra-campus transports of requested items for checkout, maintaining selected reserve textbooks for onsite use, provide library instruction sessions (traditional and online), embedded librarian support in all online courses, and more.

We will continue to embrace technology and develop new practices to remain relevant while practicing our traditional purpose of providing an environment conducive to learning.

The collection development policy defines the purpose and goals of the library collection and follows the standards for Library/Learning Resources of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. The intention of the collection development policy is to guide librarians in their selection and deselection of materials, to inform our users how materials are considered for inclusion, and to define the scope of what resources are appropriate to acquire in support of student success.  
 
Collection Development Objectives 
The staff of the library work to develop collections that support the instructional programs of Southwest Tennessee Community College, as well as: 

• Contribute to the general enrichment of our students and community 
• Encourage lifelong learning 
• Provide equitable access to information 
• Appear in formats that best suit students and faculty 
• Provide fact-based, reliable, and scholarly information  

Selection Responsibility 
The executive director of library services oversees the selection of materials for the library. Consideration for the acquisition of new materials comes from: 

• Faculty recommendations 
• Student recommendations 
• Input from department liaison librarians 
• Recommendations of community users
• Reviews in library and literature journals

Criteria and Priority for Selection of Materials 
Primary consideration is given to developing collections that support the instructional programs of Southwest Tennessee Community College; however, other considerations may apply: 

• Special attention is given to materials that supplement and expand upon what is taught in class. 
• The library participates in the planning process and develops new collections for new programs of study. 
• Materials are also chosen for personal enrichment and for instilling in the user an awareness of libraries and their potential as a lifelong source of information, recreation, and personal development. 
• Library staff replace basic materials missing from the collection as determined through inventory and overdue files. 
• The library may acquire duplicate copies of materials if needed to support a class. 
• The library staff does not purchase textbooks; however, faculty may place their own copies on reserve. Exceptions are made where accrediting agencies require purchase for accreditation purposes.  

The selection of resources in subject areas taught at the College follow specific criteria: 
Relevance of the subject matter: 

• Appropriateness in terms of academic level 
• Timeliness or permanence of the materials 
• Reputation of the author or publisher 
• Inclusion of the title in recognized bibliographies and indices 
• Soundness of scholarship 
• Availability of material on the subject 
• Budget limitations 
• Holdings of neighboring libraries  

Criteria and Priority for Selection of Electronic Resources 
The following are considered for electronic resources: 

• Benefits to students and faculty 
• Potential to enhance existing collections 
• Accessibility by remote users 
• Compatibility with LMS 
• Affordability 
• Compatible terms and conditions 
• Representation of diverse viewpoints 
• Estimated patron use  

The mission of the Libraries of Southwest Tennessee Community College is to meet the information needs of our students and faculty by: 

• developing relevant collections to support the curricula; 
• providing equal access to the resources and the space to use and share information; and
• promoting academic success and lifelong learning through information literacy.

Our facilities include the Bert Bornblum Library at the Macon Cove Campus, the Jess Parrish Library at the Union Campus, and small libraries at our centers. 

Our staff includes ALA accredited librarians ready to assist both students and faculty in-person and online. 

The library collections and policies reflect our desire to create an equitable, diverse, inclusive, and accessible educational environment both on campus and online.  

Some of our services include: 

• Access to physical and electronic collections 
• Inter-library loan 
• Reservations for meeting and study rooms 
• Access to selected reserve textbooks for on-site use  
• Instruction in the use of libraries and information literacy 
• Embedded librarians to support in online courses 
• Reciprocal borrowing agreements with other area colleges and universities 

The library staff purchases and removes resources based on the library’s Collection Analysis schedule to ensure a fair distribution of funding for print resources. During the fiscal year, staff remove outdated resources and purchase replacements in print or digital format. The liaison to the Paralegal Department continuously weeds superseded paralegal resources as the library acquires new editions. 
 
Liaisons also target areas for accreditation visits and perform a concentrated weeding as needed. Each staff member has shelf maintenance assignments including the routine removal of outdated and damaged items.  
 
The librarians base the general guidelines for collection management on the CREW method – Continuous Review, Evaluation, and Weeding. The CREW method gives six general criteria for considering weeding an item from the collection which are summarized with the acronym MUSTIE.  

• M = Misleading—factually inaccurate  
  
• U = Ugly – worn beyond mending or rebinding  
  
• S = Super-ceded – by a new edition of/or by a much better book on the subject  
  
• T = Trivial – of no discernible literary or scientific merit  
  
• I = Irrelevant to the needs and interests of the library’s community  
  
• E = Elsewhere – the material is easily obtainable from another library  

Once items are selected, library staff documents targeted items, physically removes materials, updates the database, and removes holdings from OCLC. Physical Plant on Gov Deals sells these materials on Gov Deals. 
 
The librarians make decisions to weed electronic resources on low usage and funding limitations. 
 
Decisions for retention and removal of periodicals are made based on the general criteria listed above, in addition to: 

• Increasing cost 
  
• Online accessibility 
  
• Storage space 
  
• Usage 
  

We appreciate those who offer to donate resources to the collection; however, the same selection standards apply to gifts as to the rest of the collection. The library reserves the right to refuse materials and/or to dispose of any materials after acceptance that do not meet the library’s needs or requirements. 

The library endorses the American Library Association’s Bill of Rights. Materials are purchased to reflect a wide variety of viewpoints to fulfill curriculum needs and the interests of our users. We support intellectual freedom, inclusion, equitable access, resistance to censorship, and the right to privacy. Library users with an issue about an item in the collection may ask that the material be reviewed for consideration of removal or purchase.